Nothin for Christmas
by Laura Louisa Lewis
Summary: One of the Regan children's most epic fights ended with Danny destroying Erin's favorite hat and Erin microwaving Danny's football. Here's the Story Behind That (#7 in the Series).
1. Chapter 1 - A Tale of Footballs and Hats

**Chapter One – A Tale of Footballs and Hats**

 _Inspired by a conversation in Season 2, Episode 17, Reagan v. Reagan and the classic 1955 Christmas song, Nothin' for Christmas, by Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett._

* * *

 **December 24, 2013**

"Where is that boy?" Henry glanced at his watch one more time. "If he doesn't get her soon with my gg's, we'll all be late for Midnight Mass."

"You know Danny, Grandpa. He'll be here on his own schedule," Jamie told his grandfather. He looked out the front window. "And there's his car now."

"About time," Henry grumbled.

Shortly thereafter, Danny led his family into his family home in Bay Ridge. "Hey, everyone ready to go once Linda gets tomorrow's roast in the fridge?"

"Just waiting for you, Daniel," Frank informed his eldest son."

"Hey, Jack. Hey, Sean," Jamie greeted his nephews. "Ready for Christmas?"

"I guess," Jack muttered with a glare at Sean. Sean's "Yeah," was equally unenthusiastic, and accompanied by a stare at his older brother.

"Hey what's up with you two? No Christmas spirit?"

"Kid, don't get them started," Danny muttered to his brother.

"Sean sat on my new glasses," Jack blurted out.

"And you broke my GameBoy's power cord!"

"Well, you called me four-eyes! After you sat on two of them!"

"Boys, behave. We're not getting into this again in front of your grandfather and great-grandfather," Linda told her boys.

"They were ugly anyway," Sean muttered.

Henry and Frank shared a glance. "It's the football and the hat all over again," Henry remarked.

"The what?" Jack asked.

"Ah, you've never heard the tale of the football and the hat?" Henry asked rhetorically. "Come on. I'll tell you on the drive over to the church."

A few minutes later, the family members were settled in the cars for the short trip to the church: Frank, Henry and the boys in Frank's official vehicle, and Danny, Linda and Jamie in Danny's well-worn Jeep. Henry turned to face his great-grandsons. "So, 'The Football and the Hat.' It started just a few days before Christmas, back when your father was about ten years old, and Jamie was a brand new little baby…"

==BB==BB==

 **December 22, 1982**

 _I broke my bat on Johnny's head;_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

 _I hid a frog in sister's bed;_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

 _I spilled some ink on Mommy's rug;_

 _I made Tommy eat a bug;_

 _Bought some gum with a penny slug;_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

"Mommmmmy! Mommmmy!" Five-year-old Joe's alarmed voice cut through the silly Christmas song playing on the radio.

Mary Reagan sighed. _What now?_ A week-and-a-half after bringing new baby Jamie home from the hospital, and the normal family routine was still out of order. Danny and Erin had been bickering with each other constantly, and Joe had become more clingy with both her and his father. And Christmas? It was coming up, much too soon. Only a week out, and the decorations? Not hung. The tree? Not decorated? The presents? Purchased, at least, but not wrapped. Thank God for Frank's parents, who had invited the family, including her mother Rose, to celebrate the holiday with them at the Reagan home in Bay Ridge. "I'm in the living room, Joey," she called to her next-to-youngest son. She settled two-week-old baby Jamie back into the cradle that had been used by all of his older siblings, as well as his father and grandfather.

Joe ran into the room, holding one hand over his nose. "Mommy! Danny hit me with his football and made my nose bleed."

"No I didn't, you little snitch!" Danny yelled at his little brother.

"Yes, you did. You threw it at me, and it bounced up and hit my face," Joe insisted.

"You were supposed to catch it!"

"I tried! It's too big."

"Or you're too little," Danny snipped. He tossed his football from one hand to the other, then pantomimed throwing it at Joey.

"Am NOT!" Joe yelled while stomping one foot on the hardwood floor, waking his baby brother, who immediately started fussing. "And I didn't want to play anyway. I wanted to stay in and play with Jamie."

"Daniel! Joseph!" Mary scolded over her baby's wailing. "Jamie just got to sleep. Try not to yell around him. Joe, let me take a look your nose."

"It's bleeding." Joe lowered his hand from his nose.

Mary tilted her son's head back to get a better look. "Daniel, you have to be more careful when you play with your brother. Joey, let's go to the kitchen and get you cleaned up. Pinch your nose right here and keep your head tilted back." She stood up and put one hand on her son's back to guide him. "And Daniel, rock your baby brother for a few minutes until he settles."

Danny sighed and dropped down onto the sofa. He nudged his baby brother's portable cradle with his foot, and the baby's cries quieted. Danny frowned at the baby. Joey had always wanted to play with him before the little thing came along. He nudged the cradle harder a few times, causing it to rock faster. "You're making a mess of everything, you little brat." Danny kicked it one more time, with more force than he really meant to.

As if he could understand what his big brother was saying, or maybe because of the fast rocking, Jamie started fussing again and then promptly burped up part of his last feeding all over himself and the blanket.

"Geez, kid, what'd you do _that_ for," Danny grumbled at the baby.

"Mom! Mom, Danny just kicked Jamie's cradle and made him urp all over himself," Erin called to her mother.

Danny spun around to see his sister standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Where did you come from?"

Erin smirked at him as she walked across the room. "I came downstairs to find Mom. Wanted to see what she thought about my Christmas Eve dress and hat. But I got here just in time, didn't I, sweet little boy." Erin knelt down next to her baby brother and started cleaning him up. "Mean Danny was being a big meany, wasn't he?" she cooed to him.

"Daniel, what did you do?" Mary fretted as she ran back into the room.

"Nothing!" Danny tried to defend himself. "I just rocked him like you told me to." _At least baby Jamie couldn't tattle on him. Not yet._

"No he didn't. He was rocking it really hard. That's why Jamie burped," Erin argued back. "But come see what I'm going to wear for Midnight Mass."

"Daniel, I've told you to be careful with your little siblings." Mary grabbed Danny's football out of his hands. "No more football today. Go play quietly with Joey."

"That's not fair. I didn't even do anything bad," Danny protested. _Not really bad._

"Mom, what about my dress?" Erin repeated.

Mary sighed. "I'll be there soon. As soon as I get Jamie cleaned up," she promised.

Erin glared at her older brother. Mom wasn't going to make it upstairs to see the outfit she'd picked out. Jamie would probably need a diaper change after he got cleaned up, and then something else would happen, and it would be Christmas _Day_ before Mom had time to help her. And that was Danny's fault this time. "Fine," she snapped and marched back up the stairs to her room.

 _Oh, I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas_

 _Mommy and Daddy are mad._

 _I'm getting nothin' for Christmas_

 _'Cause I ain't been nothin' but bad._

==BB==BB==

 **December 23, 1982**

 _I put a tack on teacher's chair_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

 _I tied a knot in Susie's hair_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

 _I did a dance on Mommy's plants_

 _Climbed a tree and tore my pants_

 _Filled the sugar bowl with ants_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

"Danny! Joey! Time to get up!" Erin pounded on the door to her brother's bedroom the next morning. "You're going to be late for school. And Dad's driving us in today."

Joe pulled his blanket tighter around his head. "'m not going," he mumbled.

"Yes, you are." Danny rolled himself out of bed and yanked the covers off his little brother. "Up. You heard Erin. Dad's waiting to take us to school today." Which meant, Danny suddenly realized, that his father would be getting his morning coffee at the kitchen table instead of standing at the counter like he usually did. Which meant he would be getting the sugar for his coffee from the sugar bowl on the table and not from the canister on said counter. "Crap!" Danny ran for the stairs. "Dad, don't use the sugar," he called.

Coughing and spitting sounds from the kitchen alerted him that he was too late. He jogged into the kitchen to find his father staring at him.

"Danny, what did you put in the sugar?" Frank asked his son.

"Nothing bad!"

"Daniel," Frank warned.

"Just some salt," Danny admitted. "Erin was supposed to put it on her cereal. I didn't know you'd use it instead." He'd just wanted to pay his sister back for ratting him out to their mother yesterday. "Why'd you have to go to work late today, anyway?"

"I'm dropping you three at school, and bringing your Grandmother Rose back to watch the baby. Your mother is concerned that she's not prepared to put on a good Christmas for you and your siblings. We're going to fix that today, if you'll cooperate." Frank pushed the sugar bowl toward his son.

"Yes, Sir." Danny took the dish to the sink and emptied it, then refilled it with sugar from the canister.

Frank poured himself a fresh cup of coffee, mixed in a spoon of sugar and some milk. "Now, get upstairs and get ready to go."

When Danny nodded and ran for the stairs, Frank sat down at the table for a second try at morning caffeine. His eldest was certainly angling for a position on Santa's naughty list…

By the time Danny and Erin arrived home from school later that day, the house looked much different. Strings of lights adorned the front door and window, and a tree had been acquired and set up in the living room and the lower part of the tree was in the process of being decorated by Joe. But as soon as he heard the front door open, he put down the ornament he was holding and ran for the door. "Danny! It snowed all day today! Help me make a snowman," he asked. "Please?"

Danny peeled off his jacket and shook the snow off it. "Why don't you ask Jamie to help?" he asked his brother.

"I did! But Grandma Rose says Jamie's too little to play in the snow. 'sides, he's busy sleeping again. Because being born is hard, and he's growing lots and lots, and that takes up all his energy, Grandma Rose said."

 _Did Joey actually want to spend time with him again?_ "Okay, fine." He shrugged back into his jacket. "But only if it's a football player snowman. A Jets player."

"Jets! Jets! Jets!" Joe chanted. "We can use your football, and my Jets socking cap!"

"It's called a stocking cap, kid," Danny told his little brother.

"Why?"

"It just is," Danny retorted. "C'mon. Last one outside gets a wedgie!"

"No, I don't!" Joe ran for the door to the back yard as fast as he could.

Making the snowman filled the next few hours for the two boys, but they finally had it completed except for the accessories. Danny looked over their creation.

"Is it time for the football and my hat now?" Joe asked again.

"It's time," Danny agreed. "But I think your hat might be too small. You should go borrow Erin's, and I'll grab the football. Go."

"Okay!" Joe ran back into the house and up the stairs.

Danny followed behind his brother, headed for the kitchen. "Mom, where did you put my football yesterday?" he yelled to his mother.

==BB==BB==

An hour later, Erin headed down to the kitchen herself to look for a late-afternoon snack after a long afternoon of a little homework and a lot of chatting with her friends. As she walked by the back door, she caught a glimpse of Danny's and Joe's snowman. "How cute. A loser football player," she mumbled to herself. And the silly boys had built it right on top of Mom's tulip garden. That couldn't be good for the bulbs. Then she took a closer look at the snowman. It was wearing a Jets stocking cap. _Her_ Jets stocking cap. "Joey! Get in here!"

Joe trotted into the room a minute later. "Yeah?"

"Joey, is that my hat?"

"Yeah, you told me I could borrow it. 'member?"

"To wear, not to decorate your snowman!" Erin grabbed a coat off the nearby rack and shoved her feet into the pair of snow boots they kept near the door. She marched outside and yanked her hat off the snowman. Of all the stupid things to do! Her hat was going to get faded by the sun, and birds would probably do their business on it. What had Joey been thinking? Or, wait? This didn't seem like something her sweet little brother would do on his own. What had _Danny_ been thinking? He was probably behind this. Well, she'd show him! She grabbed the football out of the snowman's arm and tucked in under the coat, then stomped back into the house.

"What did you do to our snowman?" Danny met her as she came through the door.

"Took back my stuff," Erin snipped as she shrugged out of the coat and boots.

"The football's not yours. Gimme."

"Not until you say you're sorry for taking my hat," Erin demanded. "You should've used your own."

"What if I'm not sorry? And what would I wear on my head if I used my hat for the snowman? And give me my football."

"I'll think about while you go find some other hat."

"Fine!" Danny quickly turned and headed upstairs to the bedroom. He returned a minute later holding the black felt beret Erin had set out to wear the next evening to Midnight Mass. "Hey, Erin, what about this one?" he teased.

"Give that to me!" Erin demanded.

"Not until you give me my football! What'd you do with it, anyway?"

Erin smirked. "Not telling. Not until you give me my hat."

"No football, no hat." Danny demanded.

"No hat, no football," Erin shot back.

Danny grabbed up a pair of scissors his mother had left on the table from wrapping presents. "Give me my football, or the hat gets it."

Erin glared at her brother. "You wouldn't."

"Try me." Danny opened and closed the scissors. "Isn't this where you say, 'please don't hurt my clothing'?"

"How about, 'please don't hurt my football?" Erin asked. She reached over toward the microwave oven she was standing beside and turned the power level up to the maximum, then moved her finger toward the "Start" button.

Danny scowled at her, then shoved part of the hat into the blades of the scissors and closed them, nearly cutting Erin's beret in half.

Erin gasped, then pushed the power button on the microwave.

It was at that moment, as Danny and Erin were glaring silently at each other, the scissors and Erin's ruined hat still in Danny's had, the microwave whirring in the background, Joe standing in shocked silence looking from one older sibling to the other, that Frank and Mary led Henry, into the kitchen, to set out the pizzas he'd brought for the family dinner.

"Anyone care to explain what's going on here?" Frank asked.

"Danny cut up my hat!" Erin cried. "He used my Jets hat on the snowman, and when I told him to find another, he got my Christmas hat and chopped it up!"

At the same time, Danny called out, "She's nuking my football. She hid it and wouldn't give it back, and now she's nuking it."

While Frank was still trying to interpret what either one of them was saying, Mary pushed past him. "For God's sake, Erin, turn that thing off right now!"

Before anyone could get to the microwave, with a loud bang and the crack of breaking glass, the microwave door blew open and the acrid smell of burnt rubber filled the room.

"Is everyone okay?" Henry called out over the family's alarmed shouts.

"'m okay, Grandpa" Joe confirmed from his position curled up on the floor.

"Fine," Erin replied.

"I'm fine, but she blew up my football!" Danny shouted.

"You sliced up my hat!" Erin yelled back.

Frank looked around the room at his two angry eldest children, glaring at each other; his youngest, crying in his grandmother's arms at the door; his next youngest, curled up against Mary across the kitchen. And Mary, trying so hard to fight back tears. After all she'd tried to do for them today to give them the perfect Christmas despite all the demands an almost-premature new baby made on her time and energy; despite giving birth to that baby only two weeks earlier; this is how Danny and Erin repaid her? With bickering and destruction of property? "That's it," he declared. "You two are getting nothing for Christmas!"

 _So, I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas_

 _Mommy and Daddy are mad._

 _I'm gettin' nothin' for Christmas_

 _'Cause I ain't been nothin' but bad._

 _I won't be seeing Santa Claus;_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

 _He won't come visit me because_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

 _Next year I'll be going straight;_

 _Next year I'll be good, just wait_

 _I'd start now, but it's too late;_

 _Somebody snitched on me._

* * *

Is it _really_ too late? Ho-ho-no! Check back tomorrow for Part 2.


	2. Chapter 2 - Silent Night

**Chapter 2 – Silent Night**

"Grandpa! You didn't!" Sean exclaimed.

"I did," Frank responded. "Your father and your Aunt Erin needed to see there were consequences for their behavior."

"A lesson you two might want to heed," Henry reminded his great-grandchildren.

"Yes, sir." Jack glanced over at his younger brother as considered the possibility of their Christmas going down in flames.

"So Dad and Aunt Erin didn't get any presents?" Sean asked again. "None at all?"

"Of course they did, because you Grandfather is a softie somewhere inside," Henry teased.

"They did, because they showed your grandmother and me that they'd learned their lesson," Frank clarified. "Christmas isn't just about getting presents; it's about learning how to give to others."

"So, how did they get out of trouble?" Sean asked.

Frank glanced at his father. "Their grandparents had a lot to do with it. Their Grandpa Henry, and Grandma Betty and Grandma Rose."

"That's right, kiddos. That's what grandparents are for," Henry joked. "We fixed things right up, starting the next morning…"

==BB==BB==

 **December 24, 1982**

It was a somber group of Reagans that made their way to Betty and Henry Reagan's home in Bay Ridge the next morning, on the day before Christmas. Danny and Erin's bickering had stopped, to be replaced by sullen silence, and Joe's Christmas spirit had been dampened by the knowledge that while he (and Jamie) would be celebrating Christmas, his big brother and sister wouldn't be visited by Saint Nick.

"Why the long faces?" Henry Reagan asked his grandchildren as he and Betty opened the front door.

When neither of his older siblings answered, Joe spoke up. "They're not having Christmas."

Henry looked at his daughter-in-law. "He hasn't changed your mind about that yet?"

Mary shook her head. "That incident with the microwave yesterday was the last straw for him."

Betty turned to her grandchildren. "Daniel, Erin, Joseph, take your bags upstairs and get settled. I'll be there to help shortly."

"Yes, ma'am," Danny said quietly. "C'mon, Joe. Let's go." He led his little brother up the stairs, with Erin following a few steps behind.

"That's the best behaved those two have been this month," Mary commented as she handed the baby carrier to Henry.

"If you already in a hole, stop digging," Henry quipped. "Hello there, little one," he added for Jamie, who was staring at his grandfather with big eyes.

"I'm sorry about this," Mary apologized. "I didn't even think about the date of the two-week check-up appointment when he was born, and I'd forgotten about it until this morning. I hate to impose on you like this."

Betty quickly hugged her daughter-in-law, who looked to be on the verge of tears again. "Honey, you didn't plan the timing. Take Jamie to his appointment, then go back home and rest for a while. Henry and I can watch the other children, and we'll fix this thing with Francis when you three come back here for dinner."

"But having us stay overnight. It's too much."

"Nonsense," Henry cut in. "We'll be out late together at Mass tonight, and you'd be back over here early for Christmas tomorrow. It just makes sense for you to stay here overnight instead of you heading all the way back home."

"Thank you both," Mary pulled back from Betty and wiped at her eyes. "Jamie and I should get going. Don't want to be late for our appointment, do we, sweetie?" Mary asked her baby as she took him back from Henry and headed for the car.

Henry closed the door behind Mary and Jamie. Only seconds later, Danny came barreling down the stairs, with Joe close behind him.

"Grandpa, we're going outside to build a snowman, okay?" Danny called as he ran by.

"Only if you use your own clothing for it," Henry retorted.

"Henry," Betty scolded. The boys didn't need a reminder of the previous evening's fiasco. "I'll be upstairs, talking with Erin."

==BB==BB==

Betty headed upstairs and found her granddaughter sitting on the bed in one of the spare bedrooms. "Erin, honey, don't you want to help you brothers build their snowman?" she asked.

Erin shook her head and swiped at tears. "No, Grandma."

"Is this your dress for the Christmas Eve service tonight?" Betty asked as she noticed the red and green plaid taffeta dress hanging on the closet door. "We'll have to touch up those wrinkles before then."

"Doesn't matter," Erin moped.

Betty sat down beside her granddaughter. "Why not, child?"

"I had the whole outfit planned. I had the perfect hat to go with it, and the perfect shoes. I would've looked so cute."

"Erin, you know what your mother would say about that. Church isn't about how you look. It's about worshipping God and remembering the gift he gave us tonight," Betty reminded.

Erin sniffled. "I know. It's just that I put it together all by myself, and Mommy never saw it before Danny sliced up my hat. She's too busy with baby Jamie to care about dumb stuff like that."

"It's not 'dumb stuff' if it's important to you. Young ladies like to look nice." Betty suddenly realized what was going on here. "And that's what you wanted your mother to see, that you're becoming a young lady, isn't it? Choosing you own clothes and putting together an outfit?"

Erin nodded. "But she's so busy with the baby. And that's all ruined now anyway. Danny destroyed my hat."

"And you destroyed his football."

"I guess," Erin agreed. "Things got messed up last night. And now Danny and I don't get Christmas."

"Your grandfather and I will try to fix that. However, the first step is going to be you apologizing to your brother for destroying his football, and to your parents for the fighting and the oven."

"But…"

"But someone has to go first," Betty argued.

"Yes, ma'am."

"First, come with me. Let's go pick up your Grandma Rose. I think she may have a solution to your hat situation. I remember when Henry and I would socialize with your Grandfather Jack and Rose. Rose always had a hat for every outfit, and more often than not, gloves to match. I'm sure she has one you could borrow." Betty stood up, put an arm around her granddaughter and led her downstairs. "Henry, Erin and I are going to pick up Rose. We'll be back later."

"Yes, dear," Henry called to his wife.

"You keep an eye on the boys, and make sure Joey gets a snack."

"Yes, dear." Henry glanced out the kitchen window to where Danny and Joe were finishing up the basic form of their snowman. An hour later, they'd completed the project, and Henry decided it was time for that snack. "Who's ready for Grandma's cookies?" he called out the back door.

"Me! Me!" Joe shouted as he ran toward the house. "I want cookies!"

"Yeah, what he said," Danny added.

A few minutes later, the two boys were seated at the kitchen table, and Henry was putting plates of cookies and mugs of milk in front of them.

Joe took a big bite of one of his cookies. "Where's Grandma?" he asked after finishing the bite.

"She's at your Grandma Rose's house with Erin," Henry explained. "Why do you ask?"

Joe shrugged his shoulders without answering.

"Because Joe thinks mommies and grandmommies do everything better than daddies and granddads, or even brothers. Making snacks, helping with teeth brushing, reading bedtime stories, tucking him in at night, …"

"Well, they do!" Joe snapped back.

"Ah, and your Mommy doesn't always have time to do those things for you now, does she?"

Joe shook his head. "No, sir."

"Or for Danny, either." Henry added.

"Hey, I can take care of myself. And I wasn't the one who wanted another kid." Danny sent a pointed glare Joe's way.

"Well, I didn't know he was going to take Mommy away so much, and that he wouldn't do anything and that we wouldn't be able to play with him," Joe admitted. "All Jamie does is eat and poop and sleep."

"Sounds like you're learning the hard part of being a big brother - not being the baby of the family anymore, and doing what's best for the baby even when it means you don't get to do what you want. Kind of like Danny had to do when you were a little baby. Right, Danny?"

"Yeah, Mom spent all her time feeding and changing you, and all you did was lie around and sleep. But then you grew up and being your big brother got more interesting."

"Like how?" Joe asked.

"Crawling. You were like a really slow puppy dog for a while. I'd roll a toy at you, and you'd crawl to it and bring it back. World's slowest game of fetch."

"No, I wasn't. Was I?" Joe asked.

"Only until you learned to walk," Henry replied. "Then you'd run so fast Danny could hardly keep up. And then once you started talking, you wouldn't leave Danny alone."

"Yeah, and you're still doing that, kiddo," Danny added. "I've kinda gotten used to that."

"And then baby Jamie comes along, and suddenly Joe's not paying as much attention to you, and Mom and Dad aren't paying as much attention to you," Henry pointedly argued. "So you start behaving badly to get some of that attention back, don't you?"

Danny suddenly developed an interest in rounding up all the cookie crumbs on his plate. "Maybe," he admitted.

"I thought so. And now your sister doesn't have a hat to wear tonight."

"I didn't mean for that to happen," Danny admitted.

"Well, it did so, let's go about making that right." Henry stood up, and indicated for his grandsons to follow him. "I may have something upstairs that will help you."

==BB==BB==

A few hours later, Frank, Mary and Jamie arrived at his parents' house for a pre-Midnight Mass dinner. Mary looked around the quiet entry. "Where is everyone?"

"Francis, Mary, we're back in the solarium," Henry called to his son and daughter-in-law. As they entered the room a minute later, Betty added, "Daniel and Erin have something to tell you."

The middle generation of Reagans looked at their two oldest children, standing in the middle of the floor in their Christmas best. "What would that be?"

Danny coughed quietly. "We want to say we're sorry we've been acting bad the last couple of weeks."

"And about the microwave also," Erin added. "We're going to pay for it from our allowances."

"And, we wanted your permission to give one Christmas present to each other," Danny concluded.

Frank and Mary exchanged a glance. What were their children up to? "One. I think we could agree to that," Frank replied at Mary's nod. "Who goes first?"

Erin walked over to the tree and picked up the festively-wrapped shoe box from underneath it. "I'll do it. Danny, I'm sorry about your football. I'll pay for a new one, but until then, here." She shoved the box toward him.

"Not much point in unwrapping it now," Danny joked. "You already told me what it is."

"Just open it," Erin snapped.

Danny ripped the ribbon and paper off the box and opened it. "Hey, it's a football. Not exactly regulation size, though." He picked it up and tossed it in the air a few times.

"Grandma Rose and I made it from some old seat cushions of hers," Erin volunteered. "But it's only a stand-in until I can buy a new real one."

"Hey, Joe, catch!" Danny passed the ersatz football to his little brother.

Joe hopped to his feet just in time to catch it. "Danny! I caught the ball!" He looked down at the football. "It's just the right size for me to catch!"

"Now, pass it back."

Joe heaved the ball back to his brother.

"Nice job, kiddo. We'll play some more later," Danny said. He put the football down on the coffee table, and picked up the box he'd put there. "This is also just until I can find a new one to replace the one I'm sorry I destroyed." He handed the box to his sister.

Erin carefully unwrapped the box and pulled out a black wool newsboy cap. "Thanks, but…"

"Try it on!" Henry called.

Erin placed the cap on her head, and it promptly slipped down to cover her eyes. "Grandpa, I don't think this is going to work."

"Maybe not," Henry agreed. "But as they say, it's the thought that counts."

"And I put lots of thoughts into which of Grandpa's has would work. Lots." Danny agreed.

"It's a good thing you had the perfect hat, isn't it, Rose?" Betty added to Rose. "Erin, try on the one Rose gave you, for your mother.

Erin picked up the hatbox from in front of her grandmother. "Mom, look at this one Grandma Rose gave to me." She pulled out a dark green pillbox hat, trimmed with netting and a small rhinestone pin. "It's the perfect color. The same as the green in my dress. And look at the gloves she had to match!" Erin slipped the short gloves onto her hands. "They're just the perfect size, too!"

"Well, don't you look so put together, sweetie. You're growing up so fast," Mary remarked. "Mom, Betty, thanks for taking care of that for Erin."

"Daddy? Do Danny and Erin get Christmas now?" Joe asked his father. "They're both really sorry 'bout what happened with the micro-oven, and the hat, and the football."

"Yeah, Francis what about Christmas?" Henry cut it.

"We are. We're both really sorry," Erin added, with vehement agreement from Danny. "We're really sorry, and we're going to behave better."

"And we're going to pay for the microwave," Danny added.

"And Christmas won't be as fun without Danny 'n' Erin," Joe added. "Please, Daddy?"

"Okay, Christmas is back on," Frank relented. "But you two will be on your best behavior from now on."

"Great. Now let's go get some of that lasagna I've been smelling all afternoon." Henry exclaimed.

==BB==BB==

 _A few hours later:_

"The congregation will now stand for the singing of _Silent Night_ ," Father Donaldson instructed the crowded sanctuary as the Midnight Mass drew to its conclusion.

Danny gently elbowed Joe, who was leaning against his shoulder, half asleep. "Time to stand up and sing, kiddo."

Joe rubbed at his eyes. "Already?"

"Yep. Time flies when you snoozing." Danny helped Joe to his feet as the rest of the family also rose. As he stood up, Danny picked up the candle he'd been given when he entered the church. He glanced over at Joe, who was resting both his hands on the back of the pew in front of them. Last year, the candlelit signing of Silent Night, and helping Mom hold her candle, had been Joe's favorite part of the whole service, Danny recalled. Joe shouldn't have to miss out on that this year, just because Jamie had gotten fussy in his carrier a few minutes ago and Mom was holding him in her arms right now. Danny reached behind Joe to pick up his mother's candle. "Joe, take this," he said as he pushed the candle into his brother's hand.

Joe looked at the small white candle and then up at his big brother. "I get my own candle this year?" Last year, Mommy had let him 'help' hold hers, but he hadn't thought he'd get his very own this Christmas Eve!

"Well, you're a big kid now, and someone needs to hold Mom's candle, since she can't," Danny explained, while moving Joe to stand partially in front of him, where he could control the kid's arms if he got careless. "Just keep it vertical, and away from people," he added at a whisper as the choir and congregation began singing Silent Night, and the altar boys lit the candles of the first person in the front row of parishioners.

 _Silent night, holy night._

 _All is calm, all is bright,_

 _'Round yon Virgin Mother and Child,_

 _Holy Infant, so tender and mild._

 _Sleep in heavenly peace,_

 _Sleep in heavenly peace._

As the candlelight spread through the congregation, Danny tipped his candle over to receive the flame from his father, who had reached across Mary and Jamie. As his father noticed the candle in Joe's hands, he quietly cleared his throat, and pointedly looked from Danny down to Joe. "Trust me," Danny mouthed to his father, but he knew if this went wrong, he was going right back on the naughty list for good. He touched the flame of his candle to Joe's and watched his little brother's face light up along with the wick. "Now, light Erin's candle with yours," he whispered to his little brother, then helped Joe carefully move his candle toward Erin's.

"Look at you, being all big-brotherly," Erin whispered as she tilted her candle over into the flame from Joe's candle.

"Yeah, so?" Geez, Erin wasn't going to go all mushy on him now, was she? Girls.

Erin smiled. "Sorry about the football."

"Yeah. Same thing about the hat," he whispered back. "Truce?"

"Truce," she agreed, before turning to pass the flame onto Grandma Rose.

 _Silent night, holy night,_

 _Shepherds quake at the sight._

 _Glories stream from heaven afar,_

 _Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!_

 _Christ the Savior is born,_

 _Christ the Savior is born._

==BB==BB==

 **December 24, 2013**

As the Christmas Eve service drew to a close with the candlelit singing of _Silent Night_ , Jack thought about his great-grandfather's story. Maybe he should apologize to his brother. If Dad and Aunt Erin had found a way to mend fences after that epic fight, he and Sean could to. And it was just eyeglasses; it's not like it was anything he liked that got broken. He looked down the pew, past his mother and father, to his younger brother. He carefully squeezed in front of his parents, hoping to not light his suit coat on fire. "Hey, Sean, I'm sorry about your GameBoy," he whispered to his brother.

Sean looked at him. "And I'm sorry you have to wear eyeglasses," he whispered back. "And that I sat on them also."

"Dweeb," Jack retorted, even as he put an arm around his brother's back and pulled him closer. "C'mon, less talking, more singing."

Danny glanced at his boys, then nudged his wife. "Looks like Grandpa came through again," he whispered.

"They're brothers. They'll always love eavh other. Henry just gave them a push in the right direction," Linda replied. "Now stop talking before you end up in trouble again." She gestured to the end of the pew, where Henry stood looking at them to see who was disrupting the service.

Danny gave her a quiet thumbs up, then resumed singing the song.

 _Silent night, holy night,_

 _Son of God, love's pure light,_

 _Radiant beams from Thy holy face,_

 _With the dawn of redeeming grace._

 _Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,_

 _Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth._

* * *

Merry Christmas!


End file.
